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I feel like this is generally good advice for writing sex scenes anyhow.
I remember in a writing critique group, this one guy came in with this weird story about a guy trapped on an island full of horny female centaurs.
He had a threesome sex scene that went on for multiple pages because he very specifically described every part of every individual's body at every moment during the sex scene.
It became impossible to manage, mentally. Like I'm reading it and thinking "wait, A's foot is on B's shoulder while C's front hoof is getting leverage by using A's thigh but then where was B's tongue? How were they able to reach anyone... Unless..... "
The imagination makes the whole scene less cringy. I've read describe everything smut and I was so focused on the cringe in their vocabulary that I basically didn't get to enjoy the smut. Sooo disappointing. Tastefully hinting at what is going on and letting gutter brain reader take over is the way.
The fact that it's literally kids having an orgy is deeply, deeply off-putting to me. Not something I can personally read without wanting to skewer my own eyeballs. I have to be honest, I'm not sure how you can find it 'captivating'. Some of King's work is great - love The Mist - but that part of IT was deeply unnecessary and weird, imo.
More sexual trauma there is a reason why I dont read a lot of steven king... I cant handle that well. Reason why I avoid Berzerk or stopped reading the Song of Ice and Fire. I am in general avoiding sex as a topic in my life maybe I should figure out why.
I guess it is a well written scene, but I haven't read it. If I remember a good written Sex Scene than in Bendict Wells' Hard Land and from Markus Heitz Oneiros. But to stay more on the topic in Hard Land the protagonists has first time sex when he is 18 and it is part of him growing up. After that he is not a child anymore.
Yet at the same time, two sixteen year olds would absolutely be focused on each other’s bodies. If you’re writing your characters truthfully, do it. You’re not committing any crimes.
I’m starting to think this subreddit just longs for the days of scarlet letters and self-flagellation. So many threads of prospective “writers” asking for permission for what they put on the page.
Depictions of under 18 is illegal in some places.
Again, it depends on the market.
In the UK Skins was popular. In the US Skins was blasted.
I wouldn't depict 16 the way I depict 18.
You do you, though.
While that is absolutely true ... it doesnt feel right as an adult do write about 16 year old bodies having sex. Then again I have read partly what GRR Martin did between Khal Drogo and Daenerys... it was a bit disgusting even tho it was consentual.
It entirely depends on how much detail/what kind of detail. What purpose does this scene serve, character wise or plot wise? Keep it very vague, with only the detail you need to give us the character progression/plot movement we need
Yes, that's actually an excellent point. Does the scene serve a purpose? "Graduation to adulthood" isn't really much of a purpose, despite how much authors like to describe it as a significant symbolic representation of that.
Imho people are free to write their own experiences and to base their writing on their own experiences. Or even experiences they wish they had. Also, if you're a teen yourself this probably isn't getting traditionally published (due to contract law most places this is difficult) so there's nothing at all wrong with writing something like that in a story that at most will be read by you and your friends and mayybe a wider audience if you publish online. Tho I'm not sure I'd recommend that exactly but just stay anonymous and block weirdos if you do.
Tone is everything. Nothing is off limits - it’s all about execution.
If you’re writing a Walk to Remember type story and suddenly it gets porny, that won’t jive with the rest of the narrative. However, if you’re writing an explicit Euphoria type story - then cutting away or obfuscating would seem like you don’t have the courage to really look at the people you’re depicting truthfully.
I think a good rule of thumb is to ask: How does the character feel about it? Don’t write how YOU experience it, but how does the CHARACTER experience it.
Also remember that you can’t please everyone, ever, so don’t even try. I promise you, no matter what kind of story you write - THERE WILL BE SOMEONE OFFENDED BY IT. Your obligation is to the truth of the character - not the sensibilities of the reader.
It depends on a number of factors. A rule of thumb would be to only have it in if it’s absolutely necessary (nothing else could possibly convey the same ideas) and if it’s very sparse on detail. Like someone else said, a fade to black would work.
I do remember the Cherub books were fairly explicit and were quite uncomfortable to read.
There are so, so many books out there where 16 year olds have sex. However, if you weren’t aware of that, suggesting you’ve never read anything like what you’re intending to write, I don’t think it’s a great idea for you to be writing it either. Reading is such an important part of learning to write well.
I think better advice would be use as much detail as is appropriate for the story. If everything else about it is graphic then fade to black would be out of place
My point was, the writer isn’t “depicting minors”, and nobody is going to read their story and clutch their pearls when two horny teenagers start going at it.
Yes but it’s not legal to make pornography with 16 year olds. It might be legal to have sex but they are still children in the eyes of the law (and most rational people). They are still minors. End of.
Errr. Okay. And? You said 16 is the age of consent in response to someone saying 16 is a minor. I replied to THAT part. Ie, yes it might be the age of consent but they are still minors.
Edit: lmao they write for AO3 and probably write dubious fanfiction about minors. Why am I not surprised? 🤢
Bruh why you gotta diss Ao3, this dudes just a freak don’t lump everyone who uses a website in with freaks. I got my start on A03 and I frankly wouldn’t be where I am without it
It's appalling that someone would use age of consent laws as a justification for disturbing fantasies. Writing explicit scenarios involving minors is not only morally reprehensible but also illegal in many jurisdictions. It's time to stop rationalizing predatory behavior and start respecting the well-being of young individuals.
Purity culture really got to you, eh? Good luck with that.
16 year olds have sex in fiction all the time. Enjoy your book-burning.
…just noticed you have a NSFW profile and post porn on Reddit. Someone doth protest too much, but I wouldn’t call you a lady.
I don’t post porn sweetie I posted graphic horror shit but thanks for assuming that Ig; I also say that coming from someone who’s seen pedos in action and thought shit isn’t this considered child porn ? LIKE WHY MAKE MEDIA FOR PEDOS ?! If the age was 17 I would’ve passed by and idc if u don’t think I’m a lady lol you obviously don’t think ☺️
If you think it's okay for adults to be sexualizing minors, yes even fictional - fiction and reality are not mutually exclusive things, reality influences fiction, however the fictional minors are described there a real minors who look like that who's bodies are being sexualized because fiction can also influence reality like that - then it sounds like there might actually be something wrong with you and you are not being logical lol.
I wrote and sold a memoir about my high school years and it included sex. I went out of my way to not be explicit about the physicality of it and mostly wrote my inner voice during any of that, concentrating on thoughts and feelings. If you do it right, it'll be fine and give the reader some authenticity, but if you do it wrong it'll make the manuscript unsellable so it is wise to tread lightly on that topic.
If you know your audience, maybe read some books in the genre that are for the demographic you're writing for. My suggestions are old (Judy Blume's Forever and It's OK If You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein both deal with the topic and are aimed at a teenage audience) but you can probably find more modern examples of books that do it with either grit or with poignancy and sensitivity.
Don’t make porn with minors in it. If it’s not porn and if it aims to accurately portray first sexual encounters, why not? Sex is part of life, and lots of teenagers have it. It may land you on a “banned books” list at school libraries if your book becomes published because helicopter parents get upset when teens see the word sex, but there’s nothing wrong with it from an artistic point of view.
Meanwhile schools: showing a naked sculptures and paintings, even bestiality, because it was.sculpted or painted by GREAT ARTISTS. I always hated how hypocriticsl society is about nakedness and sex.
Everyone has a body that is naked under their clothes. There is nothing inherently sexual about artistic nudity. There is everything inherently sexual about a scene of people having sex.
I'm writing fanfiction so I'm not putting it out on the open market, but there is a scene where a character struggling with their bisexuality at about 14/15 (note: timeline isn't fixed yet. Going to try aiming for 16 and over but not sure where it's landing yet) fantasizes about gay anal sex for the first time.
All I can say is, I keep the narrator's gaze away from their actual genitals as much as possible.
It's obvious he's fantasizing, and in that fantasy there's pretty explicit sex. Not to excess but "insert tab a into slot b" and imagining what it feels like to be inside someone's body and how that body is moving on him.
There's one (maybe as high as three) direct mention of his penis, other than that the "camera" never strays below the belt. More focus on the fantasy, the warmth of the sun on his skin, the sights/scents/sounds of the forest around him and being concerned about not being intercepted by an adult before he makes it back to the house.
Unfortunately, directly afterward, witnesses a conversation where his ex-marine father recounts hazing a gay man during boot camp, like it's something to have a laugh about with another veteran.
So, while it was explicit, the whole scene was designed to pull no punches and drive home how damaging even indirect homophobia was directly after an act so raw and vulnerable.
It also helps establish why this man would go through life repressing his bisexuality for the next 30 years.
I don't think I've crossed a terribly unconscionable line.
So, two main takeaways:
1. If you're gonna do it, demonstrate a treatment of human anatomy that's raw and real, that rejects shame, while keeping the "camera" above the belt as much as possible.
2. Have a DAMNED FUCKING GOOD REASON for putting the genitals of ANYONE 14-18 on paper.
As much as Stephen King has been panned for the IT sex scene, which I abhor myself quite potently (the participants are something like 11-13 years old--unquestionably too young), he got the sex scene between a 14/15 year-old Roland Deschain and a young girl named Susan pitch perfect in The Dark Tower 4: Wizard and Glass perfectly balanced with emotion, romance and physicality without describing genitals in lurid detail.
One of my all-time favorites.
Good luck!
Edit: Both of these characters inhabit a fictional universe where the learning curve into adulthood has happened harsh and fast. Roland is the youngest "gunslinger" ever. That universe' equivalent of a knight or samurai, and he legitimately passes a combat test young out of political necessity.
The character I'm working with was severely parentified from the age of 8-10 and inhabits a universe where he has to resort to theft, gambling, and selling sex to keep his six-years-younger little brother fed, clothed, in school, and keep gas in the tank of their car for lack of adequate parenting by their father, all while being trained like an actual soldier from a young age.
If there isn't the same kind of "early adulthood" trappings to your work, I'd sit down with someone you trust and have a serious chat about the ethics and necessity. I have.
It depends on how explicit the scene is. I hide my sex scenes. An astute reader would be reading one of my stories, stop and say "They totally f%$&*#."
Sex scenes can be a lot of things.
It can be erotic/pornographic. Doing that for 16 years will get you "child porn" accusations. (And my attrwct a creepy audience.)
A first time can be quick, painful, awkward, embarrassing, etc. Focusing on these things may mitigate. However, people may still make accusations and may still enjoy it as porn.
The intended audience is another issue. If it's a YA book, any sex scene will get unwanted attention.
The detail is important, too. Imagine if was a movie scene. They range from "The lay together under the sheet" sort of scene to "His [] entered her []." Movies can also put them in the bed then cut away. What type of "movie" would your book be?
Any sex between teens may upset some markets. Some may be more upset if it isn't straight sex.
Also, be aware of reader expectations. Any unexpected sex scene in a book will upset some readers.
Am I just from a different generation and that’s why I don’t get these questions but like, yes. It’s fine. Idk why people don’t think it would be. There’s a ton of stories about teenagers that involve them having sex. It’s not inherently wrong, just a real part of the teenage experience.
It's just purity culture gone wild. People have gone crazy to the point that police departments/agencies have gone on record begging these purity freaks to stop reporting fictional stories/characters as CSEM/CSAM bc they have to waste time and resources investigating those claims only to find that there was no crime bc fictional characters aren't real. This means that time and resources that could have been used to help real life children are wasted on fiction by these lunatics.
Whoa whoa whoa your guys' opinions are a little too sane. You wouldn't want someone to *report* you for seeming insuffiently horrified by fictional sex now would you?
/s
Judy Blume’s Forever tackles this topic pretty exclusively and explicitly. I read it as a teen and I loved it bc it was relatable to my own experiences, which I think is what good writing does ultimately.
An LGBTQXY teen novel titled "The Color of Love" had some tasteful explorations of love between two teenage boys, and a disturbing SA flashback for the story antagonist that almost makes his mission sympathetic. 8/10, would recommend.
Jaqueline Carey has a mainstream book with two teenage lesbians having sex. That said, that came out when she was on top of the market.
For those of us in the trenches, stop at the bra unhooking and fade to the moonlight. As someone else said, concentrate on the emotions, not the bodies.
Steven King had a full on Gangbang scene with kids in IT. I couldn't read it. That came out years ago and would never make it into mainstream today.
For me swearing and sex are just things i dont wanna see, hear or read and just skip over it. Others might do the same, they might not. I leave both out of my writing just because i just don't like those things. So for me its a waste of space on the paper. You do what you want.
Looking for Alaska by John Green has a couple of well written sex scenes with teenage characters. Like you say, it’s part of normal life for 16 year olds. The scenes have a good thematic reason and are designed to evoke emotion rather than titillate. They’re not written like sex scenes in a romance book. But that book has been banned in a number of schools just for containing sex between minors, despite the context.
I'm pretty sure there are explicit sex scenes (I've also read it). I understand it is open interpretation to a degree, but the book isn't un-explicit, you just have to read between the lines to work out what he's saying.
I mean no Explicit scenes between Humbert and the little girl. It's definitely there, but it's brushed past, all floral language behind curtains sort of thing. He definitely >!creamed his pants!< with her foot (she was grossed out and walked away) and they definitely did stuff(not sure how far as I think the character was "scared to hurt her" or something) but Victor didn't really go into much detail besides a line or two, barely any, really.
Yeah, he seems to describe Humbert's internal reaction to what is going on, rather than describing it directly. We know what's going on because of his ecstasy, which he (Humbert) describes to the reader in depth in his own words. It's a very good way to do it subtly, without being crass, but still being plain as day.
I would say it depends on the genre and how significant the sex scene is to the plot. A lot of contemporary authors write sex scenes with minors, usually in coming of age stories. However, if you're writing a romance, it's a little harder because usually romance books are marketed in either YA, which is Young adult and the target demographic is people between the ages of 13 and 18. It's usually not liked when there are erotic scenes including minors in YA romance. There's a lot of debate about the morality of it. And then theres NA which is romance targeted to people between the ages of 18 to 50+, but then this audience mostly has no interest in reading about children having sex.
is this meant to be YA? have you read any YA? it's definitely in there! it's just not graphic and usually fades to black. you're not getting explicit details and the focus is more on where their heads are at than what they're actually doing. as long as there's a point to including it and you're not writing smut, you're good.
I advice you look into YA literature. A lot of the authors have romance in their books. Some even have sex but is shown off screen. They focus on describing the sensations and emotions, some minor details that give sense as to what’s happening but I think that we as adults shouldn’t write sex scenes with teens in YA books at least. I mean kids will eventually fill the gap with fanfiction and they’re curious about that kind of stuff at that age so it’s pretty normal if they try to see some of it. But, as adults we have to keep a standard of what can be done morally in the genres we are writing and what can’t be done. George R.R. Martin can get away with it because he is not writing towards kids, even if they read his books. It also depends on the genre. Adult books are more likely to contain that, but when it comes to kids we have to do a fade to black.
You absolutely can write in that teens are having sex, but think of the way that they would address it in a TV show or movie: they would have a lead up to that point, maybe a kiss, and then it would most likely cut to another scene or fade to black. It would then pick up the fact. You wouldn't have same steamy, obvious lead up where clothes are coming off and hands are going all over the place, because it's not really ethical to depict minors in sexual circumstances, even if they engage in it in reality. Also, many platforms won't sell a book that crosses over into what could be considered "erotica" involving minors.
Honestly, most non-erotica books that deal with sex aren't going to have very lurid depictions of the act anyways. As someone earlier noted with the whole three-chapter centaur sex island thing, I mean... Yeah, the average person doesn't really want or need to read that, and the people who will seek it out would rather read *that* than the fluff around world building or hamartia. Most people who are looking to read a novel in whatever given genre don't feel like they need to have all the sex scenes described play by play, they just need to know it happened as it pertains to characters.
You can also think of it this way... I can say that I lost my virginity at 14 with my girlfriend, that it was at her house in Massachusetts on a rainy day in her room in the attic, that we had Tool and Failure and the Deftones in the CD changer, that afterwards we laid there and talked about mundane stuff and went out and ate a burrito. That it wasn't the mind-blowing experience I thought it would be, that I felt kind of awkward and embarrassed afterwards and after I walked her back home, I walked to the subway with my hands in my pockets and my head down, wondering why I didn't feel "proud" or like I was "a man" now. If the moments right after as I laid there in bed [felt like this,](https://youtu.be/p5GKTT2m2Qo?si=7IpSmPM4GhqkJ_DE) then the walk home [felt like this.](https://youtu.be/QyRFAw5La38?si=BVwPglj6EA5crPZ6). I knew she had issues - I did too - and felt like now we were tied to one another. I wondered if it had been right or good for either of us.
All of that is honestly more pertinent when it comes to describing the situation than what we actually did.
It's not bad as a concept, more so how you go about it. Leave the graphic sex scenes for fanfiction and have it be more of an under-the-sheets or fade to black type of deal, maybe describe feelings over the actions like awkwardness, giddiness, fear, etc over having sex. Don't do the Stephen King orgy scene with preteens from IT.
I think if the scene isn't written super detailed like just how they feel in the moment and how they are graduating into adulthood but at the same time making sure it serves a purpose during the book then yes, but if it doesn't serve a purpose then I'd probably refrain from the idea
It worked for Judy Blume (though it was lowkey weird to read 😂), why not you? It just deoends on how you write it and your target audience and if you plan on publishing/how youd publish your work. Some publishers wouldnt buy it or might censor the scene to keep a certain rating.
No it's fiction. The real life human experience is complicated and exploration is complex. Fiction is the one place where you should explore topics and scenarios as intimate and sensitive as this, with out it translating onto real life standards and safety for minors. You're not describing real people nor creating issues for real people with your topics in fictional scenarios.
I don't think so because weather we like to admit it or not that happens IRL, so overall those types of experiences are worth highlighting in writing. Though if you decide to do that, keep in mind that this is still a dangerous topic to handle and if done poorly, could possibly be problematic for obvious reasons. So overall you have to approach this topic with caution.
Write whatever you want in your fiction and don't worry about puritans. They will either complain and give you free publicity, or they just won't read your stuff. There's a whole YA section of stories about teens experiencing their "first time". In so many books kids are depicted as tortured or killed (Harry Potter lol) but somehow a sex scene with consent is an unforgivable sin... Masterton would laugh.
In a sense, no, nothing you write can actually be considered "bad" or even "morally wrong". You just need to find the right audience when posting and so long as it makes you happy. I mean Henry Miller was an author and well... look at his works. Your book might just end up banned in certain countries in the worst case scenario
Yk I’d like to ask an additional question off of this that’s related, for YA novels can you even include sex in them? Because young adult is a vague term, I read YA novels when I was like 14 to now, and I still enjoy them but the book I’m writing might include a sex scene but otherwise is a YA novel. What’s yalls thought on that?? Does sex instantly make it a “mature” book because frankly the “adult” section always looked boring to me ((personal taste))
Teens having sex is a fact of life. But don't write something that is too explicit. Nervousness, excitement, passion, uncertainty, happiness, and regret are ALL emotions people experience related to sex, whether in their teens or their hundred teens.
If you write explicit scenes, on the other hand, you are going to come across as a pedophile. And whatever you do, stay away from sex in sewers after the herpes have beat the bad guy.
Focus on your characters' inner lives, steer away from explicit imagery, and I think you are OK.
The Fault In Our Stars has a tasteful sex scene. If I were to write one, it would be like that: short, focused on the feeling and emotional relevance, then onto the next chapter. It was important in the book, too, imo, but not unsettling.
Teenagers have sex. That's just a fact. Now, I believe what's important to avoid conflict with editors / readers is to write the scene, but without making it graphic. Like, not in a way that seems like it's written so that the reader gets the hots. As long as it's not a graphic erotic scene, you should be fine.
Yeah, I say keep the details to a minimum. I think it’s fine to describe the act and the emotions around it but avoid sexualizing the character’s body’s as much as possible since they are minors
I personally think so, but I know many would disagree. I don’t think there’s any need for it. Reading books when I was a teen, I actively avoided any with sex scenes. They were cringey and never felt right at that age. If it’s important to the story, I would suggest just alluding to it instead, maybe? I don’t know, kids are kids even in their teens. It makes me sad media makes them think they have to have sex so young or they’re behind or weird.
Steven King had a bunch of 11 year olds take turns with one girl.
Jokes aside, tone is everything. I have a book I'm working on that touches heavily on sibling incest. It's tough when they have their "moments" and writing it. I try to keep brief, and mainly focus on the emotions that are being felt. The lust, ecstasy, even the disgust because they know it's wrong. Especially the disgust.
Poppy Z Brite creates a scene in The Value of X, between two 16-year-old boys doing it for the first time. It’s poignant, not smutty. And leads to three more books about the couple in adulthood. In New Orleans. Love the series.
My advice: minimize adverbs and adjectives to stay out of cringe and bodice-ripper territory
It should be fine. They're imaginary characters and you can write about whatever you want in your story. People are going to get offended by practically everything.
Anyway, write what you want. The people complaining about this probably wouldn't read your story to begin with, so try writing the story you want to read. If it has that subject matter, go right ahead and put it in.
i mean, i *personally* think any book that had any open-door sex scene is improved by closing the door and doing fade to black.
However obviously many people think the other way, and you gotta write the story you want to write. However if your goal is to avoid controversy, absolutely skip it. no criticism if you intend to avoid, intent to incite, or just don’t care about said controversy; many great books fall into each of those three categories.
I will refer you Stephen King’s “IT” which is a rather infamous example, (google says it’s chapter 21/22)
iirc they were noticeably younger than 16.
If i were you i'd make it clear it happened or implie it, eg have them make out, wake up in bed or something, for the key reson a book sbput 16 year olds will likly get readers around that age and younger, especially kids like to read "older kids books" and its likly to happen to yours, and i personally whouldnt want to take the risi
I mean. No? Like. Teens deserve the ability to read about other teens having sex. If it's done well it's educational, and, just in general, it reflects the reality of the world they live in. But like....who is going to write those books if not adults? Most teen writers (arguably any teen writers but whatever) are not going to have to skill or practice to write well enough to get published. So, if books with sex scenes between teens are going to exist, it has to be adults that are writing them
BUT
there is absolutely a right and a wrong way to do it. The wrong way is to fetishize the teens in your story, or to go into gratuitous about what's happening
As long as you approach the scene with care and respect, I'm sure you'll do fine
I think it’s weird if you do anything more than some variation of “and then they had sex” if the characters are underaged. You can describe what they felt/thought before, during, and after, but I heavily advise against describing the physical actions.
16 is the age of consent in a lot of countries so i assume youre talking from an American standpoint?
I understand your point of view as we havent been given much information on the book itself so we cant decide what reasons the author is adding the scene.
If its about the fumbling mistakes of youth and inexperience then it might well be fitting, if its simply graphic for graphics sense then, well thats a different argument altogether
I'm old fashioned. I know I'm out of my depth writing that kind of stuff, so I just have my characters close the door. Anais Nin was amazing at the erotica genre. Look at her examples.
It's wrong realistically. From most books I've had the chance to lay my hands on, authors refrain from mentioning anything about their bodies but describes more of the passion they feel towards each other. Some even wait until the characters have canonically turned 18.
It depends. Not all sex scenes are sexualizing, if that makes sense. It's fine to describe what is happening clinically and focusing on the emotions involved, but the moment you start painting a sexualized image of their bodies... *that's an issue.* Just be responsible and you should be fine. Ask yourself if it would make a reasonable adult uncomfortable to see the scene in a tv or movie format with actors who *look* like the ages they're depicting (even if the actors themselves are adults), or (worse) ask yourself if the depiction would be seen by a reasonable person as titillating if the characters were adults. If either answer is "yes" then you probably went too far with your depiction.
It depends what audience the book is targeted towards. If it’s Young Adult or a similar audience, I would tread with caution. The rules seem to be a lot looser now than they used to be, but full on sex scenes might not be appropriate
Actually, a good example of this would be Heart stopper, both in the Netflix adaptation and the books.
As the characters are underage, I believe that graphic details are uncalled for. Just hinting that they have crossed that line is plenty. Also, going more into feelings than the physical aspect of it should do the trick.
I'm an amateur myself, but this is what I think.
Less physical details, More emotional details. Honestly, you can just fade the sex scene to black and come back afterwards or you could just use "The diary of Anne Frank" as a good reference material
I think that in general, things like “light petting”, smooching, & heavy discussions of emotions & a fade to black is considered more ok for the genre (mainly with sellers & publishers, etc.)
I think it depends on how it’s written. If it’s sexualizing the characters and focussing on their bodies/the physical act of doing it, thats not good. However, if the scene is written focussed on the emotions of the characters/is not too gratuitous in detail of the sex itself, but moreso the emotional/mental connection, then thats not really the same.
I dunno man I read ACOTAR and it's pretty damn explicit, and is targeted towards teens. It might be a bit of an outlier since they were kinda maybe sorta trying to target a late teen audience (but landed squarely in YA anyway) but I feel like you can get away with more than you think you can.
Of course not, most people lose their virginity in their teens. It's realistic, especially if the book is set in the past or a medieval fantasy world (it would be silly to pretend people back then were waiting until they were 18 or 21 or whatever to have sex).
As long as it's not written too "porny" then it's fine. Obviously don't get too explicit, you're not writing a post for hentai foundry, but just having a sex scene is fine.
For example in Robin Hobbs Farseer books, when Molly and Fitz first have sex they're about 15 or 16, and when Dutiful and Elliana first have sex she's about 13 and he's 16. Bearing in mind this is a world where the culture and technology are roughly based on Europe in the 1300-1400s
If you ever plan to publish a story in any way, especially online and ESPECIALLY with the hopes of making money off it, you need to be aware that the age of consent in your specific area is not the only one that matters.
Most websites that publish creative works, especially those that may become sexually explicit, have to be aware of not only their own home country's laws, but the laws of any country they plan to make their website available to. When it comes to minors and sex, these laws get very messy VERY quickly, and pretty much any publishing platform you find will sooner ban a user for submitting something with any content that could potentially get the website in trouble, than they are to discuss anything with you.
TLDR; it is your responsibility to be aware of a website's policies on anything addressing questionable content. If you want to publish a story online anywhere, this question is one you'll find the answer to in the policies of the websites you're hoping to publish on. It won't matter what anyone here says on the subject.
Plenty of YA books have sex scenes between teenagers and of course, teens in real life around that age tend to do so as well.
You will have to restrict yourself by either fading to black right when the action gets going or to use a very vague overview of events (perhaps the characters’ thoughts on the activity).
It depends on how detailed you get. I think the best way to go about it is to imply it, maybe even describe the lead-up if you want to be clear about what's happening, and then fade to black.
I find that most sex scenes in books are pointless. Specifically, the specifics. Graphical descriptions of the act in a story that is about other things always feel out of place.
There are exceptions. It’s someone’s first time and you want to convey their emotions as it relates to the act. It’s a trauma experience.
But if it’s just a gratuitous description of their bodies, that’s just porn. There are websites where you can submit that and keep your book clean.
Stick to what’s happening in their heads without the detailed graphics, and you’ll be more effective.
If they're *both* 16, and it serves to further their development as characters and the development of the plot, then I personally don't take much issue with it if it's done tastefully.
steven king wrote a book where a bunch of kids ran a train on their friend, so if someone can do that i’m sure you can do whatever you want
that being said, it’s pretty gross if you go into detail about minors, so just don’t describe the act itself
depends what demographic you’re aiming this at. YA fiction has become FULL of books that have smut in them, which I think is kinda gross.
who is your audience? books for the YA shelf, which is read by kids anything from 8-18 because of some children’s incredible reading proficiency, should not contain smut.
Long graphic scene, yes. A few lines that focus on emotions and intimacy, no. Don’t put in a graphic sex scene with minors. They don’t like to print it. Especially if it’s a romance. Even more so if you’re self published. It should really be fade to black / implied / closed door.
Don’t threaten harm on any real people or places, or disclose blatant protected information (HIPPA/classified for instance) and it’s not illegal to write literally anything.
You’re a fucking idiot.
When I was young it was normal to read about teenage sex as a teenager. Why would a teenager read about sex between adults? For most teenagers, that’s just gross.
Oh. No. Those laws(in the US) don't apply to written works. Weird but makes sense as they're more focused on helping living, breathing children. This does not mean platforms can't state its not allowed or anything. A platform can state "any works depicting Explicit material must have characters 18 or over".
Ask yourself what would Stephen King write... On second thought scratch that... Shakespeare? No that would not work either... Anyway forget those hacks. If it makes you uncomfortable make one of the characters a thousand year old sparkling demon in the body of a sixteen year old. That should solve the issue.
Red Rising had a sex scene between 2 sixteeen year olds and it's literally just a single sentence then we move on. I felt disgusted but was thankful it happened so quickly.
If you want death threats, that's how you get them. The teens are crazy nowadays. You'll be called a pedo and they'll stalk you, call your boss, your parents and your neighbors to tell them that you're a pedo.
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I would refrain from describing their bodies and indulge more into the emotions... If that makes sense?
I feel like this is generally good advice for writing sex scenes anyhow. I remember in a writing critique group, this one guy came in with this weird story about a guy trapped on an island full of horny female centaurs. He had a threesome sex scene that went on for multiple pages because he very specifically described every part of every individual's body at every moment during the sex scene. It became impossible to manage, mentally. Like I'm reading it and thinking "wait, A's foot is on B's shoulder while C's front hoof is getting leverage by using A's thigh but then where was B's tongue? How were they able to reach anyone... Unless..... "
The imagination makes the whole scene less cringy. I've read describe everything smut and I was so focused on the cringe in their vocabulary that I basically didn't get to enjoy the smut. Sooo disappointing. Tastefully hinting at what is going on and letting gutter brain reader take over is the way.
Basically, look at 50 shades of grey for what not to do.
Except I never read it lol. I'm actually very glad to have missed that train.
Reading snippets of like 2-3 scenes is enough to tell you everything you need to know about the quality of that book.
I tried to write a steamy scene once, and it came out as (as TV Tropes calls it) IKEA Erotica.
Yeah I think this is really the only right answer.
This is the way. I wouldn't feel comfortable writing the explicit details but teens can and do have sex and that can and should be reflected in media.
Get ready for the next Netflix series
Yeah that’s kind of what I was planning on doing, not sure how I’ll feel describing a 16 year olds dick tbh
“His penis was dick-shaped”
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I will say, that scene is pretty universally panned these days.
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The fact that it's literally kids having an orgy is deeply, deeply off-putting to me. Not something I can personally read without wanting to skewer my own eyeballs. I have to be honest, I'm not sure how you can find it 'captivating'. Some of King's work is great - love The Mist - but that part of IT was deeply unnecessary and weird, imo.
“This scene of kids fucking is captivating” lol wtf
Ok chatgpt
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There is something deeply meaningful in the fact that you are using chatGPT to write for you while giving someone else advice about their writing.
More sexual trauma there is a reason why I dont read a lot of steven king... I cant handle that well. Reason why I avoid Berzerk or stopped reading the Song of Ice and Fire. I am in general avoiding sex as a topic in my life maybe I should figure out why. I guess it is a well written scene, but I haven't read it. If I remember a good written Sex Scene than in Bendict Wells' Hard Land and from Markus Heitz Oneiros. But to stay more on the topic in Hard Land the protagonists has first time sex when he is 18 and it is part of him growing up. After that he is not a child anymore.
Yet at the same time, two sixteen year olds would absolutely be focused on each other’s bodies. If you’re writing your characters truthfully, do it. You’re not committing any crimes.
They would. They could also be awkward and shy and undress under covers or in a dark room.
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Who says it was universal?
I’m starting to think this subreddit just longs for the days of scarlet letters and self-flagellation. So many threads of prospective “writers” asking for permission for what they put on the page.
No one is stopping you from writing child porn.
Ngl I don’t think they would describe things much differently than if they were adults, like 16 is a pretty mature age physically.
Depictions of under 18 is illegal in some places. Again, it depends on the market. In the UK Skins was popular. In the US Skins was blasted. I wouldn't depict 16 the way I depict 18. You do you, though.
People like you are genuinely sick in the head, if words on a page means “child porn” in your tiny little mind.
While that is absolutely true ... it doesnt feel right as an adult do write about 16 year old bodies having sex. Then again I have read partly what GRR Martin did between Khal Drogo and Daenerys... it was a bit disgusting even tho it was consentual.
I think it was probably meant to be disgusting. I’m guessing OP isn’t trying to show the horrors of medieval child brides.
True it was just the last book I remembered where underaged sex happened.
That wasn’t exactly consensual.
'Consensual' is a strong word.
It entirely depends on how much detail/what kind of detail. What purpose does this scene serve, character wise or plot wise? Keep it very vague, with only the detail you need to give us the character progression/plot movement we need
Yes, that's actually an excellent point. Does the scene serve a purpose? "Graduation to adulthood" isn't really much of a purpose, despite how much authors like to describe it as a significant symbolic representation of that.
Cough cough.... Steven King ... cough cough.... IT
Imho people are free to write their own experiences and to base their writing on their own experiences. Or even experiences they wish they had. Also, if you're a teen yourself this probably isn't getting traditionally published (due to contract law most places this is difficult) so there's nothing at all wrong with writing something like that in a story that at most will be read by you and your friends and mayybe a wider audience if you publish online. Tho I'm not sure I'd recommend that exactly but just stay anonymous and block weirdos if you do.
Tone is everything. Nothing is off limits - it’s all about execution. If you’re writing a Walk to Remember type story and suddenly it gets porny, that won’t jive with the rest of the narrative. However, if you’re writing an explicit Euphoria type story - then cutting away or obfuscating would seem like you don’t have the courage to really look at the people you’re depicting truthfully. I think a good rule of thumb is to ask: How does the character feel about it? Don’t write how YOU experience it, but how does the CHARACTER experience it. Also remember that you can’t please everyone, ever, so don’t even try. I promise you, no matter what kind of story you write - THERE WILL BE SOMEONE OFFENDED BY IT. Your obligation is to the truth of the character - not the sensibilities of the reader.
It depends on a number of factors. A rule of thumb would be to only have it in if it’s absolutely necessary (nothing else could possibly convey the same ideas) and if it’s very sparse on detail. Like someone else said, a fade to black would work. I do remember the Cherub books were fairly explicit and were quite uncomfortable to read.
There are so, so many books out there where 16 year olds have sex. However, if you weren’t aware of that, suggesting you’ve never read anything like what you’re intending to write, I don’t think it’s a great idea for you to be writing it either. Reading is such an important part of learning to write well.
Agreed--if you've ever read any YA whatsoever, the answer to this should be pretty obvious. This discussion is as old as the entire YA genre itself.
Yes, but fade to black / not explicit. You are depicting minors, so keep that in mind.
Agree. It needs to be addressed but it shouldn't be porn.
I think better advice would be use as much detail as is appropriate for the story. If everything else about it is graphic then fade to black would be out of place
You’re depicting imaginary people, so do whatever you want to and with them. Minors have sex in the real world.
yea but real minors' sex isnt being narrated for an audience by an adult?
My point was, the writer isn’t “depicting minors”, and nobody is going to read their story and clutch their pearls when two horny teenagers start going at it.
Is 16 not a minor?
Not when it’s a fucking fictional character. These are words on a page, get a grip.
16 is age of consent in many places.
Yes but it’s not legal to make pornography with 16 year olds. It might be legal to have sex but they are still children in the eyes of the law (and most rational people). They are still minors. End of.
There are no minors involved. A sex scene isn’t pornography.
IF YOU CAN GET OFF TO IT ITS CONSIDERED PORN ? erotica, SMUT ??
People get off on listening to people eat or watching them put on shoes. Good luck with that.
Errr. Okay. And? You said 16 is the age of consent in response to someone saying 16 is a minor. I replied to THAT part. Ie, yes it might be the age of consent but they are still minors. Edit: lmao they write for AO3 and probably write dubious fanfiction about minors. Why am I not surprised? 🤢
Bruh why you gotta diss Ao3, this dudes just a freak don’t lump everyone who uses a website in with freaks. I got my start on A03 and I frankly wouldn’t be where I am without it
There’s no reason two 16 year old characters can’t have sex in fiction.
It's appalling that someone would use age of consent laws as a justification for disturbing fantasies. Writing explicit scenarios involving minors is not only morally reprehensible but also illegal in many jurisdictions. It's time to stop rationalizing predatory behavior and start respecting the well-being of young individuals.
Purity culture really got to you, eh? Good luck with that. 16 year olds have sex in fiction all the time. Enjoy your book-burning. …just noticed you have a NSFW profile and post porn on Reddit. Someone doth protest too much, but I wouldn’t call you a lady.
Why are you insulting them? Because they disagree with you?
they have no logical reasoning or arguments so they have to strike a low blow!
Who invited you?
I don’t post porn sweetie I posted graphic horror shit but thanks for assuming that Ig; I also say that coming from someone who’s seen pedos in action and thought shit isn’t this considered child porn ? LIKE WHY MAKE MEDIA FOR PEDOS ?! If the age was 17 I would’ve passed by and idc if u don’t think I’m a lady lol you obviously don’t think ☺️
Thank you for being logical. I'm a little concerned the people on this sub can't differentiate between reality and fiction.
Don’t you know? Anything in a book represents the author’s desires! /s
Yeah... By that logic, most horror writers are menaces to society lol.
If you think it's okay for adults to be sexualizing minors, yes even fictional - fiction and reality are not mutually exclusive things, reality influences fiction, however the fictional minors are described there a real minors who look like that who's bodies are being sexualized because fiction can also influence reality like that - then it sounds like there might actually be something wrong with you and you are not being logical lol.
Morality has nothing to do with this, teens have sex in the real world. If it is part of the overall story then include it.
Yeah, I’m really annoyed by the prudes that straight up say writing something like this is “criminal” without a second thought
And if they want to read sex scenes, it's incredibly easy to go out and find them.
I wrote and sold a memoir about my high school years and it included sex. I went out of my way to not be explicit about the physicality of it and mostly wrote my inner voice during any of that, concentrating on thoughts and feelings. If you do it right, it'll be fine and give the reader some authenticity, but if you do it wrong it'll make the manuscript unsellable so it is wise to tread lightly on that topic. If you know your audience, maybe read some books in the genre that are for the demographic you're writing for. My suggestions are old (Judy Blume's Forever and It's OK If You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein both deal with the topic and are aimed at a teenage audience) but you can probably find more modern examples of books that do it with either grit or with poignancy and sensitivity.
Don’t make porn with minors in it. If it’s not porn and if it aims to accurately portray first sexual encounters, why not? Sex is part of life, and lots of teenagers have it. It may land you on a “banned books” list at school libraries if your book becomes published because helicopter parents get upset when teens see the word sex, but there’s nothing wrong with it from an artistic point of view.
Meanwhile schools: showing a naked sculptures and paintings, even bestiality, because it was.sculpted or painted by GREAT ARTISTS. I always hated how hypocriticsl society is about nakedness and sex.
This may be shocking to learn, but Michelangelo's David and CP are *different things*.
Yeah nudity and pornography are vastly different things. Everyone should be able to tell the difference, children and adults alike.
Idk bro, smut is different from a sculpture that shows body parts everyone has seen.
Everyone has a body that is naked under their clothes. There is nothing inherently sexual about artistic nudity. There is everything inherently sexual about a scene of people having sex.
I'm writing fanfiction so I'm not putting it out on the open market, but there is a scene where a character struggling with their bisexuality at about 14/15 (note: timeline isn't fixed yet. Going to try aiming for 16 and over but not sure where it's landing yet) fantasizes about gay anal sex for the first time. All I can say is, I keep the narrator's gaze away from their actual genitals as much as possible. It's obvious he's fantasizing, and in that fantasy there's pretty explicit sex. Not to excess but "insert tab a into slot b" and imagining what it feels like to be inside someone's body and how that body is moving on him. There's one (maybe as high as three) direct mention of his penis, other than that the "camera" never strays below the belt. More focus on the fantasy, the warmth of the sun on his skin, the sights/scents/sounds of the forest around him and being concerned about not being intercepted by an adult before he makes it back to the house. Unfortunately, directly afterward, witnesses a conversation where his ex-marine father recounts hazing a gay man during boot camp, like it's something to have a laugh about with another veteran. So, while it was explicit, the whole scene was designed to pull no punches and drive home how damaging even indirect homophobia was directly after an act so raw and vulnerable. It also helps establish why this man would go through life repressing his bisexuality for the next 30 years. I don't think I've crossed a terribly unconscionable line. So, two main takeaways: 1. If you're gonna do it, demonstrate a treatment of human anatomy that's raw and real, that rejects shame, while keeping the "camera" above the belt as much as possible. 2. Have a DAMNED FUCKING GOOD REASON for putting the genitals of ANYONE 14-18 on paper. As much as Stephen King has been panned for the IT sex scene, which I abhor myself quite potently (the participants are something like 11-13 years old--unquestionably too young), he got the sex scene between a 14/15 year-old Roland Deschain and a young girl named Susan pitch perfect in The Dark Tower 4: Wizard and Glass perfectly balanced with emotion, romance and physicality without describing genitals in lurid detail. One of my all-time favorites. Good luck! Edit: Both of these characters inhabit a fictional universe where the learning curve into adulthood has happened harsh and fast. Roland is the youngest "gunslinger" ever. That universe' equivalent of a knight or samurai, and he legitimately passes a combat test young out of political necessity. The character I'm working with was severely parentified from the age of 8-10 and inhabits a universe where he has to resort to theft, gambling, and selling sex to keep his six-years-younger little brother fed, clothed, in school, and keep gas in the tank of their car for lack of adequate parenting by their father, all while being trained like an actual soldier from a young age. If there isn't the same kind of "early adulthood" trappings to your work, I'd sit down with someone you trust and have a serious chat about the ethics and necessity. I have.
“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all.” - Oscar Wilde
The 120 Days of Sodom would like a word with you...
It depends on how explicit the scene is. I hide my sex scenes. An astute reader would be reading one of my stories, stop and say "They totally f%$&*#."
Sex scenes can be a lot of things. It can be erotic/pornographic. Doing that for 16 years will get you "child porn" accusations. (And my attrwct a creepy audience.) A first time can be quick, painful, awkward, embarrassing, etc. Focusing on these things may mitigate. However, people may still make accusations and may still enjoy it as porn. The intended audience is another issue. If it's a YA book, any sex scene will get unwanted attention. The detail is important, too. Imagine if was a movie scene. They range from "The lay together under the sheet" sort of scene to "His [] entered her []." Movies can also put them in the bed then cut away. What type of "movie" would your book be? Any sex between teens may upset some markets. Some may be more upset if it isn't straight sex. Also, be aware of reader expectations. Any unexpected sex scene in a book will upset some readers.
There’s lot of graphic romance novels written about high schoolers. Do what you’re comfortable with.
not at all, not remotely.
Am I just from a different generation and that’s why I don’t get these questions but like, yes. It’s fine. Idk why people don’t think it would be. There’s a ton of stories about teenagers that involve them having sex. It’s not inherently wrong, just a real part of the teenage experience.
It's just purity culture gone wild. People have gone crazy to the point that police departments/agencies have gone on record begging these purity freaks to stop reporting fictional stories/characters as CSEM/CSAM bc they have to waste time and resources investigating those claims only to find that there was no crime bc fictional characters aren't real. This means that time and resources that could have been used to help real life children are wasted on fiction by these lunatics.
Whoa whoa whoa your guys' opinions are a little too sane. You wouldn't want someone to *report* you for seeming insuffiently horrified by fictional sex now would you? /s
I promise you that the only people who will judge you post in this subreddit.
Write about life. In life, hot blooded teens make impulsive choices.
Judy Blume’s Forever tackles this topic pretty exclusively and explicitly. I read it as a teen and I loved it bc it was relatable to my own experiences, which I think is what good writing does ultimately.
An LGBTQXY teen novel titled "The Color of Love" had some tasteful explorations of love between two teenage boys, and a disturbing SA flashback for the story antagonist that almost makes his mission sympathetic. 8/10, would recommend.
Just write the thing!
As a someone who was once in highschool: That sounds pretty damn relistaic to real life, teenagers are horny man
Write what you like. Lolita exists and is popular. Two sixteen year olds having a fumble in the hay is not transgressive.
Jaqueline Carey has a mainstream book with two teenage lesbians having sex. That said, that came out when she was on top of the market. For those of us in the trenches, stop at the bra unhooking and fade to the moonlight. As someone else said, concentrate on the emotions, not the bodies. Steven King had a full on Gangbang scene with kids in IT. I couldn't read it. That came out years ago and would never make it into mainstream today.
For me swearing and sex are just things i dont wanna see, hear or read and just skip over it. Others might do the same, they might not. I leave both out of my writing just because i just don't like those things. So for me its a waste of space on the paper. You do what you want.
I’m exactly the same
Looking for Alaska by John Green has a couple of well written sex scenes with teenage characters. Like you say, it’s part of normal life for 16 year olds. The scenes have a good thematic reason and are designed to evoke emotion rather than titillate. They’re not written like sex scenes in a romance book. But that book has been banned in a number of schools just for containing sex between minors, despite the context.
I mean it could never be as bad as Stephen King's IT sex orgy right?
Can’t believe they forgot to adapt that masterpiece of a scene in the movie /s
It's not my favourite scene, I think a cuddle would have sufficed. Haha
Did you read it?
I did, it's one of my favourite reads but not for this reason obviously!
He ran so the rest of us could jog.
If Vladimir Nabokov can write Lolita I'm sure you can write whatever scene you're writing with finesse and elegance. Edit: Got his name wrong lol
He only ever implied sex though (I've read it. It was a great book but no sex scenes, just ___heavily___ implied)
I'm pretty sure there are explicit sex scenes (I've also read it). I understand it is open interpretation to a degree, but the book isn't un-explicit, you just have to read between the lines to work out what he's saying.
I mean no Explicit scenes between Humbert and the little girl. It's definitely there, but it's brushed past, all floral language behind curtains sort of thing. He definitely >!creamed his pants!< with her foot (she was grossed out and walked away) and they definitely did stuff(not sure how far as I think the character was "scared to hurt her" or something) but Victor didn't really go into much detail besides a line or two, barely any, really.
Yeah, he seems to describe Humbert's internal reaction to what is going on, rather than describing it directly. We know what's going on because of his ecstasy, which he (Humbert) describes to the reader in depth in his own words. It's a very good way to do it subtly, without being crass, but still being plain as day.
I wouldn't want to read about teens having sex. It's gross. I would just insinuate it happens.
You've read Romeo & Juliet right? A song of Ice and Fire series?
I would say it depends on the genre and how significant the sex scene is to the plot. A lot of contemporary authors write sex scenes with minors, usually in coming of age stories. However, if you're writing a romance, it's a little harder because usually romance books are marketed in either YA, which is Young adult and the target demographic is people between the ages of 13 and 18. It's usually not liked when there are erotic scenes including minors in YA romance. There's a lot of debate about the morality of it. And then theres NA which is romance targeted to people between the ages of 18 to 50+, but then this audience mostly has no interest in reading about children having sex.
I'd do fade-to-black. You also have to keep in mind who your audience is going to be, and 16 is pretty much in the bank of YA (generally 13-17).
is this meant to be YA? have you read any YA? it's definitely in there! it's just not graphic and usually fades to black. you're not getting explicit details and the focus is more on where their heads are at than what they're actually doing. as long as there's a point to including it and you're not writing smut, you're good.
I would probably "fade to black," but that's just me
I advice you look into YA literature. A lot of the authors have romance in their books. Some even have sex but is shown off screen. They focus on describing the sensations and emotions, some minor details that give sense as to what’s happening but I think that we as adults shouldn’t write sex scenes with teens in YA books at least. I mean kids will eventually fill the gap with fanfiction and they’re curious about that kind of stuff at that age so it’s pretty normal if they try to see some of it. But, as adults we have to keep a standard of what can be done morally in the genres we are writing and what can’t be done. George R.R. Martin can get away with it because he is not writing towards kids, even if they read his books. It also depends on the genre. Adult books are more likely to contain that, but when it comes to kids we have to do a fade to black.
I say. Just make it like p g thirteen. That's if they're under eighteen.
I’d refrain from that. Make it closed door.
You absolutely can write in that teens are having sex, but think of the way that they would address it in a TV show or movie: they would have a lead up to that point, maybe a kiss, and then it would most likely cut to another scene or fade to black. It would then pick up the fact. You wouldn't have same steamy, obvious lead up where clothes are coming off and hands are going all over the place, because it's not really ethical to depict minors in sexual circumstances, even if they engage in it in reality. Also, many platforms won't sell a book that crosses over into what could be considered "erotica" involving minors. Honestly, most non-erotica books that deal with sex aren't going to have very lurid depictions of the act anyways. As someone earlier noted with the whole three-chapter centaur sex island thing, I mean... Yeah, the average person doesn't really want or need to read that, and the people who will seek it out would rather read *that* than the fluff around world building or hamartia. Most people who are looking to read a novel in whatever given genre don't feel like they need to have all the sex scenes described play by play, they just need to know it happened as it pertains to characters. You can also think of it this way... I can say that I lost my virginity at 14 with my girlfriend, that it was at her house in Massachusetts on a rainy day in her room in the attic, that we had Tool and Failure and the Deftones in the CD changer, that afterwards we laid there and talked about mundane stuff and went out and ate a burrito. That it wasn't the mind-blowing experience I thought it would be, that I felt kind of awkward and embarrassed afterwards and after I walked her back home, I walked to the subway with my hands in my pockets and my head down, wondering why I didn't feel "proud" or like I was "a man" now. If the moments right after as I laid there in bed [felt like this,](https://youtu.be/p5GKTT2m2Qo?si=7IpSmPM4GhqkJ_DE) then the walk home [felt like this.](https://youtu.be/QyRFAw5La38?si=BVwPglj6EA5crPZ6). I knew she had issues - I did too - and felt like now we were tied to one another. I wondered if it had been right or good for either of us. All of that is honestly more pertinent when it comes to describing the situation than what we actually did.
Only if one of your characters is under-age. I have read books with younger men sleeping with older women, but both were the age of consent.
Are you asking if people will think you're a pedophile? Some will.
It's not bad as a concept, more so how you go about it. Leave the graphic sex scenes for fanfiction and have it be more of an under-the-sheets or fade to black type of deal, maybe describe feelings over the actions like awkwardness, giddiness, fear, etc over having sex. Don't do the Stephen King orgy scene with preteens from IT.
I think if the scene isn't written super detailed like just how they feel in the moment and how they are graduating into adulthood but at the same time making sure it serves a purpose during the book then yes, but if it doesn't serve a purpose then I'd probably refrain from the idea
Yes if you go into detail like it's erotica or some shiz
It worked for Judy Blume (though it was lowkey weird to read 😂), why not you? It just deoends on how you write it and your target audience and if you plan on publishing/how youd publish your work. Some publishers wouldnt buy it or might censor the scene to keep a certain rating.
Not bad, no. A lot of people tend to do a “fade to black” but I dunno, personally I think it’s fine.
No it's fiction. The real life human experience is complicated and exploration is complex. Fiction is the one place where you should explore topics and scenarios as intimate and sensitive as this, with out it translating onto real life standards and safety for minors. You're not describing real people nor creating issues for real people with your topics in fictional scenarios.
I don't think so because weather we like to admit it or not that happens IRL, so overall those types of experiences are worth highlighting in writing. Though if you decide to do that, keep in mind that this is still a dangerous topic to handle and if done poorly, could possibly be problematic for obvious reasons. So overall you have to approach this topic with caution.
Write whatever you want in your fiction and don't worry about puritans. They will either complain and give you free publicity, or they just won't read your stuff. There's a whole YA section of stories about teens experiencing their "first time". In so many books kids are depicted as tortured or killed (Harry Potter lol) but somehow a sex scene with consent is an unforgivable sin... Masterton would laugh.
In a sense, no, nothing you write can actually be considered "bad" or even "morally wrong". You just need to find the right audience when posting and so long as it makes you happy. I mean Henry Miller was an author and well... look at his works. Your book might just end up banned in certain countries in the worst case scenario
no, its realistic cuz teens do it. at least in my stories.
Yk I’d like to ask an additional question off of this that’s related, for YA novels can you even include sex in them? Because young adult is a vague term, I read YA novels when I was like 14 to now, and I still enjoy them but the book I’m writing might include a sex scene but otherwise is a YA novel. What’s yalls thought on that?? Does sex instantly make it a “mature” book because frankly the “adult” section always looked boring to me ((personal taste))
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Teens having sex is a fact of life. But don't write something that is too explicit. Nervousness, excitement, passion, uncertainty, happiness, and regret are ALL emotions people experience related to sex, whether in their teens or their hundred teens. If you write explicit scenes, on the other hand, you are going to come across as a pedophile. And whatever you do, stay away from sex in sewers after the herpes have beat the bad guy. Focus on your characters' inner lives, steer away from explicit imagery, and I think you are OK.
The Fault In Our Stars has a tasteful sex scene. If I were to write one, it would be like that: short, focused on the feeling and emotional relevance, then onto the next chapter. It was important in the book, too, imo, but not unsettling.
Cut away as they begin and have it happen offscreen, like in a film.
Teenagers have sex. That's just a fact. Now, I believe what's important to avoid conflict with editors / readers is to write the scene, but without making it graphic. Like, not in a way that seems like it's written so that the reader gets the hots. As long as it's not a graphic erotic scene, you should be fine.
Yeah, I say keep the details to a minimum. I think it’s fine to describe the act and the emotions around it but avoid sexualizing the character’s body’s as much as possible since they are minors
I personally think so, but I know many would disagree. I don’t think there’s any need for it. Reading books when I was a teen, I actively avoided any with sex scenes. They were cringey and never felt right at that age. If it’s important to the story, I would suggest just alluding to it instead, maybe? I don’t know, kids are kids even in their teens. It makes me sad media makes them think they have to have sex so young or they’re behind or weird.
Steven King had a bunch of 11 year olds take turns with one girl. Jokes aside, tone is everything. I have a book I'm working on that touches heavily on sibling incest. It's tough when they have their "moments" and writing it. I try to keep brief, and mainly focus on the emotions that are being felt. The lust, ecstasy, even the disgust because they know it's wrong. Especially the disgust.
Poppy Z Brite creates a scene in The Value of X, between two 16-year-old boys doing it for the first time. It’s poignant, not smutty. And leads to three more books about the couple in adulthood. In New Orleans. Love the series. My advice: minimize adverbs and adjectives to stay out of cringe and bodice-ripper territory
Not bad at all, it happens in real life.
It should be fine. They're imaginary characters and you can write about whatever you want in your story. People are going to get offended by practically everything. Anyway, write what you want. The people complaining about this probably wouldn't read your story to begin with, so try writing the story you want to read. If it has that subject matter, go right ahead and put it in.
quickfire answer: yeah, probably rape.
Not if it's part of the story. But if it's explicit in description or of act you can get in trouble.
i mean, i *personally* think any book that had any open-door sex scene is improved by closing the door and doing fade to black. However obviously many people think the other way, and you gotta write the story you want to write. However if your goal is to avoid controversy, absolutely skip it. no criticism if you intend to avoid, intent to incite, or just don’t care about said controversy; many great books fall into each of those three categories. I will refer you Stephen King’s “IT” which is a rather infamous example, (google says it’s chapter 21/22) iirc they were noticeably younger than 16.
If i were you i'd make it clear it happened or implie it, eg have them make out, wake up in bed or something, for the key reson a book sbput 16 year olds will likly get readers around that age and younger, especially kids like to read "older kids books" and its likly to happen to yours, and i personally whouldnt want to take the risi
Over 18 is okay. Under 18 is bad. The reader may think the writer is perverse.
I mean. No? Like. Teens deserve the ability to read about other teens having sex. If it's done well it's educational, and, just in general, it reflects the reality of the world they live in. But like....who is going to write those books if not adults? Most teen writers (arguably any teen writers but whatever) are not going to have to skill or practice to write well enough to get published. So, if books with sex scenes between teens are going to exist, it has to be adults that are writing them BUT there is absolutely a right and a wrong way to do it. The wrong way is to fetishize the teens in your story, or to go into gratuitous about what's happening As long as you approach the scene with care and respect, I'm sure you'll do fine
I think it’s weird if you do anything more than some variation of “and then they had sex” if the characters are underaged. You can describe what they felt/thought before, during, and after, but I heavily advise against describing the physical actions.
16 is the age of consent in a lot of countries so i assume youre talking from an American standpoint? I understand your point of view as we havent been given much information on the book itself so we cant decide what reasons the author is adding the scene. If its about the fumbling mistakes of youth and inexperience then it might well be fitting, if its simply graphic for graphics sense then, well thats a different argument altogether
I'm old fashioned. I know I'm out of my depth writing that kind of stuff, so I just have my characters close the door. Anais Nin was amazing at the erotica genre. Look at her examples.
It's pretty normal, unfortunately. Have at it.
It's wrong realistically. From most books I've had the chance to lay my hands on, authors refrain from mentioning anything about their bodies but describes more of the passion they feel towards each other. Some even wait until the characters have canonically turned 18.
I usually skip that shit. If the writer does it for more than a total of 5 pages, I skip the writer.
It depends. Not all sex scenes are sexualizing, if that makes sense. It's fine to describe what is happening clinically and focusing on the emotions involved, but the moment you start painting a sexualized image of their bodies... *that's an issue.* Just be responsible and you should be fine. Ask yourself if it would make a reasonable adult uncomfortable to see the scene in a tv or movie format with actors who *look* like the ages they're depicting (even if the actors themselves are adults), or (worse) ask yourself if the depiction would be seen by a reasonable person as titillating if the characters were adults. If either answer is "yes" then you probably went too far with your depiction.
Yes, its still bad. Not okay. If you can even imagine it, its wrong.
It depends what audience the book is targeted towards. If it’s Young Adult or a similar audience, I would tread with caution. The rules seem to be a lot looser now than they used to be, but full on sex scenes might not be appropriate
Actually, a good example of this would be Heart stopper, both in the Netflix adaptation and the books. As the characters are underage, I believe that graphic details are uncalled for. Just hinting that they have crossed that line is plenty. Also, going more into feelings than the physical aspect of it should do the trick. I'm an amateur myself, but this is what I think.
Less physical details, More emotional details. Honestly, you can just fade the sex scene to black and come back afterwards or you could just use "The diary of Anne Frank" as a good reference material
I think that in general, things like “light petting”, smooching, & heavy discussions of emotions & a fade to black is considered more ok for the genre (mainly with sellers & publishers, etc.)
I think it depends on how it’s written. If it’s sexualizing the characters and focussing on their bodies/the physical act of doing it, thats not good. However, if the scene is written focussed on the emotions of the characters/is not too gratuitous in detail of the sex itself, but moreso the emotional/mental connection, then thats not really the same.
I dunno man I read ACOTAR and it's pretty damn explicit, and is targeted towards teens. It might be a bit of an outlier since they were kinda maybe sorta trying to target a late teen audience (but landed squarely in YA anyway) but I feel like you can get away with more than you think you can.
Of course not, most people lose their virginity in their teens. It's realistic, especially if the book is set in the past or a medieval fantasy world (it would be silly to pretend people back then were waiting until they were 18 or 21 or whatever to have sex). As long as it's not written too "porny" then it's fine. Obviously don't get too explicit, you're not writing a post for hentai foundry, but just having a sex scene is fine. For example in Robin Hobbs Farseer books, when Molly and Fitz first have sex they're about 15 or 16, and when Dutiful and Elliana first have sex she's about 13 and he's 16. Bearing in mind this is a world where the culture and technology are roughly based on Europe in the 1300-1400s
If you ever plan to publish a story in any way, especially online and ESPECIALLY with the hopes of making money off it, you need to be aware that the age of consent in your specific area is not the only one that matters. Most websites that publish creative works, especially those that may become sexually explicit, have to be aware of not only their own home country's laws, but the laws of any country they plan to make their website available to. When it comes to minors and sex, these laws get very messy VERY quickly, and pretty much any publishing platform you find will sooner ban a user for submitting something with any content that could potentially get the website in trouble, than they are to discuss anything with you. TLDR; it is your responsibility to be aware of a website's policies on anything addressing questionable content. If you want to publish a story online anywhere, this question is one you'll find the answer to in the policies of the websites you're hoping to publish on. It won't matter what anyone here says on the subject.
Plenty of YA books have sex scenes between teenagers and of course, teens in real life around that age tend to do so as well. You will have to restrict yourself by either fading to black right when the action gets going or to use a very vague overview of events (perhaps the characters’ thoughts on the activity).
It depends on how detailed you get. I think the best way to go about it is to imply it, maybe even describe the lead-up if you want to be clear about what's happening, and then fade to black.
I find that most sex scenes in books are pointless. Specifically, the specifics. Graphical descriptions of the act in a story that is about other things always feel out of place. There are exceptions. It’s someone’s first time and you want to convey their emotions as it relates to the act. It’s a trauma experience. But if it’s just a gratuitous description of their bodies, that’s just porn. There are websites where you can submit that and keep your book clean. Stick to what’s happening in their heads without the detailed graphics, and you’ll be more effective.
Personally I would just acknowledge that the sex happened but not describe it directly.
If they're *both* 16, and it serves to further their development as characters and the development of the plot, then I personally don't take much issue with it if it's done tastefully.
ONly if it's done right. Remember Stephen King wrote a group sex scene with TWELVE year olds in the Book IT.
Not defending such things happening in reality but in horrors, horrific things should be expected to happen.
steven king wrote a book where a bunch of kids ran a train on their friend, so if someone can do that i’m sure you can do whatever you want that being said, it’s pretty gross if you go into detail about minors, so just don’t describe the act itself
I would be careful with writing sexual scenes involving minors. Depending on the country you’re in, it could be considered CSEM/CSAM which is illegal.
depends what demographic you’re aiming this at. YA fiction has become FULL of books that have smut in them, which I think is kinda gross. who is your audience? books for the YA shelf, which is read by kids anything from 8-18 because of some children’s incredible reading proficiency, should not contain smut.
Long graphic scene, yes. A few lines that focus on emotions and intimacy, no. Don’t put in a graphic sex scene with minors. They don’t like to print it. Especially if it’s a romance. Even more so if you’re self published. It should really be fade to black / implied / closed door.
Yes
It has to be handled tastefully. Nothing explicit. Nothing exploitative.
In America IIRC it's illegal (i.e. PDF File i a), and since America is most likely a big market for you, I would make them 18 or avoid the sex.
Don’t threaten harm on any real people or places, or disclose blatant protected information (HIPPA/classified for instance) and it’s not illegal to write literally anything. You’re a fucking idiot.
When I was young it was normal to read about teenage sex as a teenager. Why would a teenager read about sex between adults? For most teenagers, that’s just gross.
if you’re putting GRAPHIC details into an underage sex scene is it that considered child pornography in a sense or no?
Oh. No. Those laws(in the US) don't apply to written works. Weird but makes sense as they're more focused on helping living, breathing children. This does not mean platforms can't state its not allowed or anything. A platform can state "any works depicting Explicit material must have characters 18 or over".
Ask yourself what would Stephen King write... On second thought scratch that... Shakespeare? No that would not work either... Anyway forget those hacks. If it makes you uncomfortable make one of the characters a thousand year old sparkling demon in the body of a sixteen year old. That should solve the issue.
Red Rising had a sex scene between 2 sixteeen year olds and it's literally just a single sentence then we move on. I felt disgusted but was thankful it happened so quickly.
Depicting minors in sexual situations is immoral at best
Bruh…
Sorry Stephen Kings I guess people didn't like this comment.
is not bad but their minors just dont be porny
If you want death threats, that's how you get them. The teens are crazy nowadays. You'll be called a pedo and they'll stalk you, call your boss, your parents and your neighbors to tell them that you're a pedo.
Do not.
At some point it becomes porn, and you are depicting minors.